It is the Christmas season and, appropriately, a time for giving gifts. After all, as the Bible tells us, the new-born Jesus received gifts from the wise men.
The story is told of a man who enjoyed buying unusual and exotic presents to give to family members. One year this man found a gift for his father that was truly unique: a talking bird that knew words in five languages and sing “The Yellow Rose of Texas” standing on one foot. So, at great expense, he purchased the bird and had it sent by courier to his father for Christmas. A few days later, the man visited his father to see if he was enjoying his unusual gift. He knocked on the door and said, “Dad, did you get my present?” “I sure did.” “How’d you like it?” The father answered, “It was delicious!”
Thought experiments have been important in quantum physics, think of Schrödinger’s cat. I have a thought experiment for you. Imagination and an ability to visualise will help. Can you see your Christmas tree or wherever you put your presents? You notice that there is an unexpected gift. It is wrapped in gold paper and has an elegant ribbon tied into a bow ? just waiting to be un-wrapped. There is a card attached and you are delighted to find that the unexpected gift is for you. It has your full name on it, and even more surprising the gift is from God!
How do you feel? And now the crucial question. Would you open it? The choice might not be straightforward, so let’s explore your options.
- To Open
Of course, you are tempted to open it. You are curious, what, you ask yourself, could God have chosen for me? And why?
Your first thought is trivial. Maybe it is the refund of the $100 I gave to Vinnies last year.
But seriously, what could God have selected? It might be something that only God can give, something that you really need. After all God knows everything including what is most important to you.
Or it might be something very valuable. Didn’t God say, “I own the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). We could speculate. Let your imagination run wild. Perhaps it is a gold bar? Gold is currently worth about $3000 (Aus) per ounce. If it is a gold bar, it might solve any financial worries you might have.
Or it could be something essential, perhaps related to your health. A cure for cancer or heart disease? Or might it be something to benefit someone in your family. Or humanity in general.
As you think about it seems more likely that the gift will have spiritual significance, perhaps addressing your doubts like Jesus did with Thomas. Or it might be something to give your life meaning both now and possibly into eternity.
I believe in the value of gifts. John and Janet Wicking were not particularly religious, but gave a generous check with the local vicar called by their house in Toorak. Of more significance, they left $45M to establish the Wicking Trust. It is now worth well over $100M and makes annual grants to aid Vision Australia and other worthy causes. In 2015 I benefited from the trust as an academic with five year research funding in ageing and spiritual care.
Back to the gift with your name on it. You are intensely curious, but wait… The more cautious side of you begins to think of unwanted consequences.
- To not open
Maybe it is spiritual, but of no earthy use?
In Budapest, a man goes to the rabbi and complains, “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?” The rabbi answers, “Take your goat into the room with you.” The man in incredulous, but the rabbi insists. “Do as I say and come back in a week.”
A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. “We cannot stand it,” he tells the rabbi. “The goat is filthy.” The rabbi then tells him, “Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week.” A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, “Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there’s no goat — only the nine of us.”
More seriously, if God is giving me a gift, perhaps God might expect something in return? What do I have that could possibly interest God? You realise that you are very uncomfortable with any sense of obligation or potential debt, especially to the creator of the universe. You wonder if God would expect you to be grateful and spend all your free time in service to street people. Or expect you to serve as a missionary, maybe in Africa or a war-zone?
You continue to think about it. The thought occurs, the perhaps this is a scam? After all the mediaeval church was quite good at developing fraudulent schemes: these included promoting pilgrimages to dubious relics and the sale of indulgences (Martin Luther complained about such practices). Could this be a new scam? What might I fall into?
Should I be agnostic about the value of this gift? Can I simply ignore it? After all most people seem to ignore God and it doesn’t seem to matter. God has been likened to a watchmaker, who wound up ‘creation’ to continue ticking, but takes no further interest. No one really expects anything from the Almighty, so maybe this will become the ‘popular option’.
Discuss: Think for a moment. Would you open it or not? Why? Discuss with someone sitting alongside you.
Conclusion
Of course, it is not a coincidence that we are discussing a gift at Christmas time. We give gifts to remember what God gave us in Christ. But remembering is not opening the present. I would suggest that there is no more important question for you than how you respond to God’s gift.
The Rev Dr Bruce Stevens is a supply minister at GUC and Wesley Uniting Church from 1 January 2024.